Dow finish hurts FTSE start

The London market slipped back below the 4,000 mark today as a poor close on Wall Street hurt sentiment.

After an hour’s trading the FTSE 100 Index was down 46.6 points at 3988, weighed down by slides in heavyweight banking and telecoms stocks.

A lacklustre finish to trading in the US on Friday, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average and tech-dominated Nasdaq both closed lower, subdued the mood.

In addition traders are expecting a quiet session trading in the US today, as bond markets are closed for Veterans’ Day holiday.

Among stocks heading lower were telecoms firms, led by Cable & Wireless. Shares slid 5%, off 6.4p at 126p, following reports the group will incur a £1 billion charge relating to restructuring its business division Global. The group is expected to lay off up to 3,000 staff under the shake-up.

BT also slipped, off 0.75p at 199.5p, and mmO2 was 0.75p lower at 49.5p, although Vodafone bucked the trend to rise 1.75p to 101p.

Banks also weighed on the index, ahead of results from European rival Credit Suisse. Lloyds TSB slid 16p to 540p, Abbey National was down 12p at 668p, Barclays fell 11p at 436.25p and HBOS was off 16p at 689p.